


To Be Found Out

by Alierana



Series: Oneshots and Sinppets that might be added to (probably not) [5]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Merlin, I don't know what else to tag, I want merlin to get credit, I wrote this forever ago, Magic Revealed, Powerful Merlin, eventually, merlin hides behind a cloak, some of those things are good, some of those things are not, things happen, timeline adjustments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-08-07 07:15:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16403768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alierana/pseuds/Alierana
Summary: Arthur is to be saved,the sisters are searching, and it all revolves around Emrys. Merlin continues to hide his identity but he can now protect Arthur in plain sight hidden by a cloak and the name the druids use, Emrys. But will it work out?Keep in mind, as with all things in this series, it is not likely I will come back to it though I might. In the future. Very very very far into the future.This was moved over from Fanfiction.net, the same as a number of other new things I am posting here, so if you follow me there you have probably already seen this.(as with all other works in this series feel free to take this and make it your own, no permission needed but a heads up would be nice because I would love to read it)





	1. Chapter 1

"You have to tell him." Lancelot said eyeing Merlin as he shifted uncomfortably. "He should know all that you've done for him."

Merlin shook his head. "That's not how it's supposed to be. My destiny is to protect him and I can't do that if I'm dead or banished."

Lancelot narrowed his eyes, "He won't do anything to you Merlin."

"He might not but Uther still hates magic and with everything that has happened with Morgana, Arthur might have hardened his heart to the idea of living peacefully with magic. Besides even if he wanted to go after me what would stop him?" Merlin asked as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"I would and so would Gwaine. Besides you said it yourself, you've got magic." Lancelot said repeating his words from the night so many months before, when the kingdom was dark.

Merlin did the same and repeated Lancelot's words back to him, "Having magic doesn't make me invincible. Besides Gwaine doesn't even know anything about my secret."

Lancelot didn't speak for a moment before conceding. "You do not have to tell Arthur as long as Uther is alive. I won't force you, but you should at least tell Gwaine." Merlin opened his mouth to speak but was cut off. "And before you say anything, we both know that Gwaine wouldn't say a word to anyone."

Merlin didn't respond at first but finally he sighed in defeat, "Fine, fine. Bring Gwaine out to the lake tonight and I will tell him."

Lancelot looked curiously at Merlin, "Why are we going so far out just to tell him?"

Merlin rolled his eyes, "Because I don't expect he'll believe me, so we'll need a demonstration and when he does believe me, he'll want to see some magic for himself. I can also almost guarantee he'll be loud about it."

This time there was no argument and Lancelot rose from the seat across from Merlin but as he walked out he turned to Merlin and bowed, catching him by surprise. Soon the door was opening and Gaius was returning from the palace with a weary and worn down look on his face.

"What is it Gaius?" Merlin asked noticing he seemed worse that usual today.

"I believe that we might have a big problem Merlin. First the king is very sick at the moment," Merlin jumped up and his mouth opened but he was stopped before any words came out, "It is natural illness that must run its course but it's taking its toll on him. If he continues with his medicine he would be better within a week but it's hard to tell because he's a bit unstable for the time being. I believe the illness was brought on by the recent stress put on his mind."

Merlin nodded and watched him for a moment before he asked curiously, "What else is there Gaius?" because he knew that what had been said wasn't all there was.

Gaius still looked upset and Merlin noticed he was a bit shocked too. "Morgana and Morgause have sent a messenger for the King. They seek an audience with Uther tomorrow."

Merlin looked just as shocked as Gaius had when he had first heard the news. "What could they possibly want? Will Uther actually let them near Camelot?"

Gaius looked Merlin in the eyes questioningly, "Do you think that he'll have a choice in the matter?" Merlin shook his head no and Gaius finished with what he was saying, "And we still have no idea what they want."

Merlin nodded with a dazed look on his face. "I can't believe how ridiculous they're being. What could they possibly want? What could be so important that they would come here personally?"

"I don't know but I think that we're going to find out that sooner than either of us had originally hoped." Gaius said.

He looked older than Merlin had seen him ever, "I know what you mean. I thought we'd have more time to recuperate before we got pushed into another battle."

Gaius nodded in agreement. They were both exhausted, and Merlin found that it was quite funny that Arthur still believed him to be lazy and have no reason to be tired. Merlin rolled his eyes at the thought because not only did he protect Arthur and all of Camelot from magical threats but he also protected them from being killed by non-magical threats as well.

Merlin looked out and noticed how late it had become. Gaius was already asleep so Merlin slipped out the door and headed to the lake where they were supposed to meet.

Merlin arrived at the lake a little later than he had originally anticipated he would so he wasn't surprised to see that Lancelot and Gwaine had already arrived. Still he was nervous and was forced to take a calming breath before he stepped out of the cover of the trees. "Hey you guys!" Merlin called in an attempt to seem like he wasn't completely freaking out on the inside.

Lancelot raised an eyebrow, clearly he was not fooled, or maybe it was just that he knew how hard this was going to be for him. Gwaine on the other hand smiled and called out, "Merlin, how's it going? Mind telling me why Lancelot here dragged me all the way out here to this lake in the middle of the night?"

Merlin bit his lip as the tried to think of a way to explain his secret to Gwaine. "Merlin has something to tell you, but it's a secret so you can't tell anyone." Lancelot said instead of waiting for Merlin to speak.

"Okay." Gwaine said as he turned to look at Merlin and Merlin was surprised that he actually seemed to be taking this seriously, "What is it Merlin?"

"Well," Merlin started, "Do you remember how we went to save Arthur from the realm of the Fisher King?" at this Gwaine nodded and so Merlin continued, "Did you notice how once we split up none of the creatures attacked me, or that I was the one who found the throne room and then got stuck in it alone?"

Gwaine's eyebrows rose and a confused look crossed his face. "What are you trying to say Merlin?" he asked though not out of suspicion but confusion.

"Gwaine, I have magic." Merlin said, putting the truth into the simplest words he could find because he didn't want to have to repeat himself.

Gwaine looked at Merlin and tilted his head to the side in order to examine him. "So what are you saying... that you're a sorcerer then?" he asked.

Lancelot listened with rapt attention because even though he knew the secret he never asked any questions in fear of making Merlin uncomfortable. Gwaine on the other hand, had no such qualms.

Merlin half smiled at the way Gwaine casually brushed off his secret. It felt as good as it had when Lancelot had shown that he didn't care if he used magic or not. "Not exactly. Sorcerers are those who grow up and decide to learn magic, or are taught it as a kid. Most people who use magic are sorcerers, but I'm not one."

Gwaine was going to ask the obvious follow up question but he was beaten to it by Lancelot, "But then if you aren't a sorcerer, then what are you?"

"I'm a warlock." Was Merlin's easy reply. "A warlock is different than most people with magic because I didn't have to practice to control magic or use spells. I was born with that knowledge and only since I have arrived here in Camelot have I begun using spells.

"Are you sure?" Gwaine asked with an eyebrow raised questioningly, and then he looked to Lancelot. "Are you sure?"

Lancelot nodded, "I know it seems impossible but I saw him use magic. He does have magic."

They looked shocked but not suspicious or wary. It was of no surprise to Merlin when Gwaine spoke first, "That is amazing. Do you know how lucky you are, but," Now he stopped as if he was just realizing something, "But if you have magic why would you risk your life protecting Uther, Arthur, and Camelot?"

Merlin sighed, but this was a question that he had been expecting from Gwaine. "I don't protect Uther because he is King, I protect Uther because Arthur wants his father protected. I protect Camelot because one day it will be Arthur's kingdom and I protect Arthur because it is my destiny and one day he will be a great king, the Once and Future King as he was meant to be."

They both nodded but Merlin looked back in the direction of the castle. He didn't know why but he had an ominous feeling about tomorrow. "Before we go would you like to demonstrate for me a bit of what you can do with magic?" Gwaine asked.

Merlin agreed and showed him a few small tricks before looking back to Camelot and saying, "We should get going now."

Gwaine and Lancelot agreed and Gwaine said, "Oh and don't worry about it Merlin, your secret is safe with us." As they headed back to get a good nights sleep in preparation for tomorrow's 'guests'.

When Merlin got back to is room he felt tired but he also felt relieved that he had one less friend that he would have to lie to. He tucked himself into bed and let his eyes drift closed and let sleep take him.

He pulled himself out of bed early the next morning, earlier than he was used to but he didn't realize it until he had reached Arthur's room and saw that he was still asleep and it was too soon to wake him.

This had never happened. In fact, more often than not, Merlin was late and Arthur would gripe at him. He wished he could explain to Arthur that despite his preconceived notion that he wasn't the only person who had saved Camelot. Merlin did acknowledge though that he didn't really mind staying in the background, not as long as Arthur was safe.

This brought him to the reason why he was in Arthur's room so early. The bad feeling that he had got yesterday had not gone away, but it had steadily gotten worse the closer that it had gotten to morning, and now it was so bad he wished to completely lock the castle down. He knew though that it wasn't possible and now it was time to wake Arthur.

Merlin threw open the curtains, "Rise and Shine Arthur!" he shouted in a cheerful voice as he turned back to face the prince.

It was harder than he thought it would be to pretend that nothing was wrong, but the alternative was worse. Arthur looked up at his servant groggily and noticed his breakfast was already set up on the table. "You okay Merlin?" Arthur asked as he pulled himself up out of bed and moved to the table where his food was, "I mean you are here on time and doing your job."

Merlin glanced at Arthur who didn't realize how spot on he was about something being wrong, "Nothing Sire, I always do my job." Merlin answered a bit sarcastically.

Arthur raised his eyebrow in disbelief, "Merlin you have been my servant for a long time now but rarely do you arrive on time and never have you gotten here early." When Merlin said nothing Arthur looked back over to him again, "Seriously are you okay Merlin?"

"Huh," Merlin said as he jerked back to reality at the sound of Arthur's voice, "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Bad feeling I guess."

Arthur seemed to believe him so he went back to eating his breakfast as Merlin quietly stood looking out the window. He could feel Morgana and Morgause coming closer to the castle. It wasn't a surprise since Gaius said that they would be coming. They had even informed the King in advance. Still he felt an unknown factor. Something bad was going to happen, that he knew for sure.

"Merlin are you sure that you're okay?" Arthur asked again as he looked at Merlin who was looking out the window with a glossy look in his eyes and he had been abnormally quiet this morning, "You seem off today Merlin. First you got here early, then you did your job, and now you're being quiet."

Merlin looked at Arthur but his eyes seemed to go past him though, "Sorry, I just," he paused wondering what exactly he should say because he clearly didn't believe he just had a bad feeling, so in the end he just replied with the bare minimum, "I just don't feel well."

Arthur looked at Merlin carefully and acknowledged that he was telling the truth. For one he looked worse that usual, more pale and sickly, and if there was anything that he had learned about Merlin it was that the boy couldn't lie to save his life. "Go home then. I don't need a sick manservant."

If it had been any other, less important, day Merlin would have jumped at the chance but if Morgana and Morgause were coming to Camelot he would stay by Arthur's side in order to protect him if it becomes necessary. "No thanks, Arthur. Gaius said that it was nothing to worry about."

Arthur rolled his eyes and then looked away, "You should feel this way more often then, maybe some of your work would actually get done that way."

Instead of making a comment as he would have usually done he just bowed and quietly said, "Yes Sire."

Whatever it was that was wrong with Merlin Arthur noticed that he didn't want to talk about it and he didn't have time to argue with him because he had that meeting today, "Get my clothes Merlin and then we're heading to the throne room where we will wait for our guests to arrive."

The word 'guest' was spoken with spite and anger. 'At least he understands almost how bad this is,' Merlin thought with a melancholy tone as he rushed to do what Arthur had asked of him and soon they were heading to meet his father.

When they got through the throne room they found Uther sitting on his throne surrounded by knights. It was simple to tell that he was sick because his face was really pale and a light sheen of sweat covered his skin.

Arthur was placed below him at the bottom of the steps, and he too was also surrounded by knights. Merlin, on the other hand, stood alone against the wall even with Arthur. They were all waiting with varying degrees of nervousness for their 'guests' to arrive.

For a minute Merlin thought with hope that they had decided not to come but that hope was shattered when the door flew open to reveal Morgause and Morgana. Merlin felt a strong magic waft over him as the sisters stepped to the center of the room seemingly equally evil. "Good to see you again, Uther." Morgana said.


	2. Chapter 2

"Good to see you again Uther." Morgana said.

"What have you come here for Morgana?" Arthur asked trying not to let Morgana upset his, their, father more than he already was. "Why have you come here?"

Morgana narrowed her eyes at him but it was Morgause who spoke to him instead. "We have come here in search of a possible ally."

"We will not be your ally, and Camelot will stand beside us!" Arthur shouted at them not directing his words at either one specifically, and as the words left his mouth the knights around him tensed.

Morgause laughed but it was Morgana who spoke up this time. "Arthur Pendragon you are so full of yourself. We don't want you as an ally, we want you dead! And Camelot, Camelot will be taken by force!"

Arthur's eyes narrowed and the knights were really tense now at the prediction of their prince's death. Merlin now feared that he knew what they had came here for and he didn't want to be right. "Then what ally do you want?" Arthur asked through clenched teeth.

"Emrys." Morgause whispered before shouting out, "We want to ally ourselves with the all powerful Emrys. Emrys ally yourself with us. Become a king! Use your gifts alongside ours and destroy Camelot! These worthless people will bow down before you and tremble at your very name!"

"What are you doing!" Who are you shouting at! Why are you here!" Uther shouted at her, interrupting her rant, "Answer me Sorceress!"

Morgause's eyes were shifting and she looked a bit crazy. Merlin had paled as he attempted to fade into the background and become invisible. This is something he had feared but never thought would come to pass. "We are in search of the powerful warlock Emrys and it had come to our attention that he is said to be in Camelot." Morgana said as she looked around the room and Merlin felt thankful that her eyes had seemed to skip him all together and it was probably because she, like everyone else, believed it impossible for him to posses any power at all.

"No sorcerer would ever step foot in Camelot if they had any sense at all. He is not here!" Uther said gripping the arms of his chair, "Where did you hear this nonsense from? Surely they are lying!" he was shouting now and Merlin was forced to take a breath to steady himself.

"He is talked about among the druids but no one knows him personally. We only recently discovered the information about the extent of his powers, and the fact that he indeed existed and was not just a legend."  
"Why would someone you claim to be powerful come to Camelot and not attack any of us?" Arthur asked Morgana since Morgause still looked a bit crazy.

Morgana mumbled something that Arthur couldn't catch but Merlin did, "He is a traitor to his own kind." Then she spoke louder for the others to hear, "It doesn't matter and now we will be leaving. We only came because we believe him to be listening."

"You can't just walk into Camelot and then expect to be able to just walk out." Arthur said as he motioned for the knights to capture them, but they didn't have a chance because after a few words whispered Morgana had already disappeared.

Morgause stood in the middle of the room now alone and said fairly quietly but not in a whisper, "Emrys meet us in the forest tonight. You should be aware of how to find us once you arrive in the forest." Then she too vanished and everyone stood there confused.

Arthur was aware of the fact that they would find them, but Uther however wouldn't accept that fact so he shouted his orders to which the knights had to obey. "Go search everywhere for them and if they aren't here begin to search the forests! Go!"

Arthur didn't argue because he understood that it would be pointless, just as these searches would be. Uther was surprised at his son's lack of argument but said nothing. When the knights had all left Arthur exited as well, heading to his room and Merlin followed him.

They didn't run into anyone on the way to Arthur's room and they both felt thankful for this, but for different reasons. Arthur didn't feel like dealing with anyone at the moment, but Merlin felt like he was going to be sick and was pretty sure he looked that way too. Arthur wouldn't notice right away because of his mood but to anyone else it would be fairly obvious at the moment they laid their eyes on him that something was really wrong.

When they got back to Arthur's room Arthur fell back on his bed while Merlin stood against the wall. Merlin had begun to try to get his mind off of them and so he focused on Arthur. He noticed that Arthur looked really upset, but what he wasn't sure of was what exactly had upset Arthur because a lot had been said in that room.

"Sire, is there anything that I can get for you?" Merlin asked, still a bit paler than he usually is.

Arthur sat up and looked at him now, "What do you think about it Merlin?" Arthur asked him with a curious look in his eye.

Merlin blinked a few times because he was surprised that Arthur had actually asked him but he really didn't understand what had been meant by the question so he answered, "Think about what?" in a very confused voice.

Arthur rolled his eyes at his servant before standing up from the bed and moving to his desk where he sat down. "About what Morgause and Morgana said. What else would I be talking about Merlin?"

"Oh," Merlin didn't really have any idea about what he should say so he said just that, "Uh, I don't know. What do you think about it Arthur?"

Arthur looked at him with narrowed eyes before answering, "I'm worried about them getting a new ally but I'm more interested in the fact that there is a sorcerer," he said the word in disgust, "Is inside the castle. But why hasn't he attacked us yet? It all seems very strange to me and I'm confused as to why we haven't already caught this Emrys person."

Arthur had finished and Merlin stayed quiet for a moment before saying, "What if this Emrys guy isn't an enemy of Camelot and that's why he hasn't attacked anyone." Merlin said hopefully.

"All sorcerers are enemies of Camelot, and they are all out to destroy it. You are being naive, and the only reason this one hasn't attacked us yet is because he is biding his time. My worries are about what he plans to do next."

Merlin sighed because Arthur had picked up on his dad's views about magic and he didn't believe that anyone with magic could be an ally of Camelot. This was why he couldn't just come out and tell Arthur that not only was he a sorcerer but that he was a very powerful warlock who just so happens to be Emrys. "Oh, so what are we doing for the rest of the day Arthur?" Merlin asked.

"We will be going to the library for a while. We need to look at some records and try to find this Emrys person, and then you have work to do like polishing my sword, fixing my armor, mucking out the horses, and washing my clothes." Arthur answered as he turned his attention to the work on his desk.

A few moments later he finished what had to be done immediately and got up and headed to the library with Merlin following him.

Geoffrey stood waiting for them and when they got there he led them to the room of records that contained the name of every person who lived or worked in Camelot. When they couldn't find the name they even went back ten years and when still nothing was found Arthur reluctantly gave up on find Emrys in the records.

With that hope withered Arthur went back to his room and was again followed my his manservant. When Arthur sat down again and looked at Merlin when he didn't move, "You remember the rest of what you're supposed to do to day right?"

Merlin nodded and Arthur said "Then go." And so Merlin picked up Arthur's things before he moved to the door. He noticed that Arthur had more work since his father had learnt about Morgana. He also noticed that slowly that work and been going away as Uther had begun to feel better. He was glad Arthur wasn't being worked so hard but at least now they knew if anything happened to Uther Arthur would be prepared to take over.

Merlin left after Arthur had gone back to work and had seemingly forgot about his manservant's presence.

He ended up working until the sun had started to set. Merlin was unsettled by the fact that he couldn't seem to get the sisters offer out of his head, but he fought the urge to find them and instead went to his room and pulled out his magic book to read, because he knew when he went to sleep it would be anything but relaxing.

Morgause and Morgana stood by the edge of the lake waiting, as they had been for several hours. "I don't believe that he's coming sister." Morgana said tearsly, "What if what we heard about him is true? What if he is truly loyal to only Camelot?"

"We will either change his mind or kill him. We will wait here until day break and if he does not show we will move to plan 'B' and force him out of hiding by our own way. If he is loyal to the kingdom we will use Arthur, but as of now we are clueless of most things involving Emrys. First we should make sure he exists, that he is real, and then we will decide on what to do next." Morgause said speaking to her sister carefully.

"Will we be getting help from Cenred and his kingdom or will we be getting pawns from somewhere different this time?"

"As happy as it would make me to force Cenred to lend me more men and take advantage of his position for what I have planned sorcerers will be needed. They don't need a lot of power, just enough to make sure that his rescuers, or at least on of them, has magic."

"Rescuers?" Morgana asked as she started to comprehend her sister's plan.


	3. Chapter 3

When Merlin woke up it wasn't by choice. He felt some dark magic over by the lake where he had laid Freya to rest, and where the sword made for Arthur had been removed from.

Day was just breaking but the magic was so imposing and angry it refused to let him back to sleep, so he tried to concentrate on it. Immediately he recognized the two main sources of magic. It was Morgana and Morgause. Already he didn't like this and it didn't help that there were at least twenty-eight mediocre sorcerers there along with two average ones. He guessed that they were pretty upset with him for not showing up to their little meeting.

Merlin couldn't stand to stay in bed any longer, so he quickly headed out of the place he shared with Gaius and headed to Arthur's room once he was dressed. It was only after he had entered the room with Arthur's breakfast did he realize that again he was early though not quite as early as he had been yesterday. Arthur looked at Merlin curiously because he was already up. "You're early again Merlin."

"Sorry, but I couldn't sleep," Merlin said and then added with a huge smile, "Besides I didn't think you'd mind too much."

Arthur rolled his eyes but he had noticed that Merlin hadn't been acting like himself lately. "Prepare my horse. A few knights and I will be leaving for a hunt. I am generously giving you the time I'm gone off."

Merlin wanted to object so badly because he could tell that something bad would happen, but he couldn't speak up. Arthur wouldn't not go, and if Arthur thought he'd been acting strange already any hint of normalcy he had left would be thrown out the window if he refused. And Arthur would force him to stay behind anyway.

"Great, but you never give me time off though, so I wonder if you are okay?" Merlin asked falling into his normal patterns.

Arthur stood up out of bed, "I'm fine it's you who's got something wrong with them, and seriously Merlin can't you show me some respect? I mean you are my manservant and I'm the crowned prince of Camelot and yet you don't seem to respect me at all."

Merlin looked at Arthur and smiled, "You'd be so bored if you had some boot licker, and your ego can't stand to be any bigger. If it was you'd never be able to find a crown for that big head of yours."

They continued to banter like that as Merlin prepared Arthur for his trip and finished, so he rushed to Gaius before he readied Arthur's horse.

He knew that Gaius would not approve of his plan but it didn't matter. "Gaius can I have a cloak?" Merlin asked as he entered the place that they shared.

Gaius looked up at Merlin from the medicine he was working on, "Merlin why would you need a thing like that?" he asked.

"Well, Arthur gave me the day off." Merlin answered.

Before he could continue Gaius cut in with an eyebrow raised, "And?"

With no further introduction Merlin rushed out everything that had happened, including what he had felt in the morning and Arthur's hunting trip. "I have to go. I know something is going to happen and I have to stop it." Merlin finished finally, out of breath.

Gaius nodded and handed him a black cloak, "Be careful Merlin. Do not get caught as you follow them. Use a spell or something."

Merlin smirked at the fact that Gaius was telling him to use magic in order to stay out of trouble, but he didn't say anything and instead nodded and took off to find the night spell. When he found it he called out, "I got one. I'll leave a few minutes after him and cast it, and I'll take the book just in case."

Gaius nodded at Merlin and said cautiously, "Please be careful Merlin and try not to get yourself killed."

"I'm always careful." Merlin replied casually before leaving the room with the cloak, book, and extra clothes in the bag.

From there he went straight to the stables and prepared Arthur's horse as he saw other horses being prepared for the knights, and it felt like the moment he got done Arthur was there, waiting. Quickly they said good-bye and then Arthur took off with the knights trailing behind him.

Them Merlin quickly prepared his horse and took off in the same direction, but once in the cover of the trees he cast a charm over the horse to make it look different, unrecognizable, and then he put an invisibility spell over the both of them that would completely hid them, and all sounds that take make, but could also be quickly cast aside by him if the moment would call for it.

He followed a few meters behind them for a while and as it started to get colder he slipped on the black cloak.

When nighttime rolled around Merlin watched as all of the knights, and Arthur dismounted their horses and set up camp. Merlin considered himself lucky because not only had he not been caught, but Arthur had also not been attacked.

Merlin slid off of his horse but did not lift the spell. He had begun to relax or he had been until he felt magic. His blood ran cold because all but one knight and Arthur had left camp and the enemies stocking them made no sound.

Arthur wasn't fully focused but Merlin knew that if one sound was made he would be put on full alert so without a second thought he had a twig break near one small group and a bush move near the other group. Just as Merlin had predicted Arthur heard these sounds and so he and his last remaining knight were put on full alert. It wasn't enough though, and Merlin knew it so when the sorcerers came charging in he did his best without being noticed.

'Take the Prince alive, kill the other. He means nothing.' Reverberated through the heads of every magical creature and user in the area.

Merlin had an idea about what he should do now but he didn't want to. Still he knew that he had no choice. Merlin kept the other knight alive but managed to knock him out so that he would seem dead, and he allowed Arthur to be captured. He knew that this was the only way but he didn't like it. If it he helped Arthur continue to fight the knights would get back and join in, and Merlin wouldn't be able to keep them all alive. Or he could keep them all alive by stepping in but he would have to use magic but once again the knights would probably be on their way back and would see him. Neither of these were a real option so he did what he felt he had to do.

The sorcerers quickly left with Arthur in tow and Merlin followed behind them in order to deal with this alone. He figured it would be easy until he hit a protection spell. Merlin rolled his eyes at the crudeness of the work but he knew it would take at least twenty minutes to get through without alerting them, and they were already inside the cave with Arthur.

Merlin also acknowledged that once inside he would have to become Emrys and only Emrys because if there was any Merlin in his personality Arthur might recognize him. Truthfully the only reason it was not one of his major worries was because Arthur thought him to big of an idiot to have any type of magic or save his life.

Arthur was fading in and out. Sir Owen had stayed with him back at the camp but he didn't know if he had been alive when these men had dragged him out of the camp. He hoped so because Sir Owen was an older man with a family whom he really liked. He also felt like someone had been helping them because some of their enemies attacks never hit their intended targets. Arthur couldn't really think straight at the moment though so he wasn't sure. On top of that his kidnappers had bound his arms and legs together and he had no idea where his sword was.

He would have sworn he heard a rib crack as they dropped him to the ground, and the sword was tossed a few feet in front of him and only then did he realize that it didn't matter because he couldn't do anything bound the way he was.

There was a man about 5'8 with messy black hair on his head and face, "We captured the elusive Prince Arthur of Camelot. It wasn't too hard to do. Honestly I'm a bit disappointed in the lack of challenge in catching him."

"Me too." A man with dark eyes and gray hair said, "She must've thought this would be harder than it was, or why would she offer us his life to do what we want with. What do you think Aviar?"

"What does it matter Otein, we got Arthur, and now we get to kill him." A self satisfied look came onto his face and Arthur felt sick at the sight, "Imagine the pain Uther will be in when we send our King," he sneered the word, "his son's head."

Only two men had spoken up to this point out of the thirty or so men there, and Arthur gathered that those two were the leaders. Arthur listened to their plans and a vote on how they planned to kill him –torture with magic won– and about the women who hired them, though they really didn't seem to know her.

They finished talking and Arthur wanted so bad for their conversation to continue, to prolong his death a little bit. Still he laughed at his stupidity because he had been memorizing important information and yet he wouldn't be able to tell anyone because he'd be dead.

He felt the man, Aviar, step forward, toward him. Arthur held his breath, his eyes still closed, waiting for the blow but instead Aviar spoke, "Open your eyes boy I know you're awake. I want to see your pain. I want to watch you die as do my men. And I want to torture your father with the details of your untimely end.

Arthur didn't open his eyes but he didn't let any emotion slip through his calm façade. He was not going to abide by their rules and give them what they want, though he knew that they would embellish the facts when they tell his father and Camelot. Still they had no right to his pain or fear so he wouldn't give it to them.

Aviar scoffed at his expression but in the end it wouldn't matter. He spoke words that Arthur was unfamiliar with and then a ball, of it looked like electricity, flew at him. What Arthur didn't expect were new words to be spoken behind him before a shield materialized in front of him. Arthur then turned to look at his savior, but he couldn't tell much about him, only that he was young and fairly small. He didn't seem like a threat to the men so he was surprised when Aviar looked at the new guy terrified as he spoke, "Emrys."

Arthur's eyes widened as he looked over the cloaked figure behind him again. Surely the man, Aviar, was wrong. The person he had called Emrys seemed too young to fulfill that role. Apparently he was not the only one who thought so because one of the men behind Aviar spoke, "You must be incorrect. This boy," he said the word with reproach "Can not be the great Emrys."

The man in the cloak laughed and Otein snarled, "You morons can't you feel it?" the others looked shocked but whether it was because of his words or the way he spoke them Arthur wasn't sure, "Of course you can't and it only proves your lack of magical ability."

"So you are aware of who I am then?" the cloaked man, Emrys, asked. When the two leaders nodded another small chuckle escaped Emrys's lips. "Good that will make this easier. I want Prince Arthur. Now!"

"We caught him! You can't just come in here and take away our reward!" a few of the men in the mob cried out in discontent.

Aviar held up his hand, effectively silencing them. "Let's kill him together then lord Emrys, this way we both or happy."

Arthur didn't really like where this was going, but he had no idea what he should do. He was still finding it hard to believe that this cloaked figure who looked no older than him was a sorcerer who had eluded his knights and lived inside the castle without killing him.

"You mistake my intentions. You seem less informed than I originally believed you to be." Emrys said and the other sorcerers were still frozen; Arthur was confused, "It is not my intention nor is it my destiny to kill or allow Arthur Pendragon to die. I have come to return him to Camelot; safely."

Now everyone was shocked. "You would save the son of the man who has killed your kin? You would betray your own kind for the likes of a Pendragon?" Otein shouted in resentment and Arthur had to admit that he agreed with Otein though he wouldn't mind being saved.

"Yes, I would and I have." Was the answer.

There was a collective gasp. "It was you who foiled Nemue's plans!" Aviar shouted.

"Yes, and I killed her too." Was his easy going response.

Arthur couldn't believe what he was hearing. This person, Emrys, had killed Nemu. "Why would you save someone who would sentence you to death if he were to see your face? Don't deny it he will have you killed no matter what you do for him!" Aviar screamed at him unable to hold in his anger.

There was a pause and Arthur thought Emrys was reconsidering trying to save him but instead Emrys said, "It doesn't matter."

That was it, those words caused Aviar to snap and send a ball of power soaring at Arthur but it never hit and for the first time they noticed that Emrys had never lowered his shield and Arthur heard Otein mutter, "To sustain it for that long; what power."

Arthur wasn't exactly sure about what had happened but one second attack after attack was flying at the impenetrable wall in front of them and in the next second Emrys muttered a few words and Aviar was sent flying back by an attack that looked somewhat similar to a blue ball of fire.

"We are going to leave this place, alive; the only question is if you're going to make me kill you to do so, or if you're just going to let us leave." Emrys stated but inside he wasn't all that confident. Still he had to keep appearances up so Arthur wouldn't figure anything out.

Emrys stood for a few moments but no one answered him. They were all too busy staring at Aviar on the ground or at Emrys in shock, and Arthur was pretty sure he could see Emrys slowly become more and more irritated until finally he spoke once again. "He would not control himself and he would not have listened. He is dead and my question still stands. Do you want to let us leave or will you end up like him?"

Everything froze and a chill went up Arthur's spine, "We will kill you Emrys." Otein said at last as they started to attack.


	4. Chapter 4

Colors were flying throughout the cave and Arthur was becoming confused, worried, and annoyed all at the same time. Why was Emrys helping him? It made no sense because everything that his enemies had said was correct overall. Yet Emrys had said that he didn't care.

The fight continued to rage on and only Emrys's shield seemed to be protecting them and Arthur wondered if he was being overwhelmed by the sheer number of attacks because his attacks weren't doing much damage, if any at all.

Emrys was now trying to talk them into a peaceful solution. Was Emrys so weak as to try to avoid fighting? It seemed that this fight would last forever.

"That's it! Enough, I've had it!" Emrys shouted and the fighting immediately ceased, though it didn't seem like the other side had a choice in the matter, "I have stood here trying so hard to talk this through without violence and I have avoided using any deadly attacks. You mistake my kindness for weakness." His voice dropped lower for the last part and majority of his opponents flinched, "I tried." Emrys said in suppressed frustration, "I have tried to talk this through but none of you would listen. It is over now! I'm done talking!"

Arthur's eyes slightly widened in surprise at Emrys's genuine sadness and regret for what he was about to do. A few words flowed from Emrys's lips and the ground slpit open and swallowed them all whole. Arthur was still trying to work through his shock when Emrys turned to face him. Emrys seemed to be waiting for something so Arthur sat up straight and asked in a commanding voice, "Who are you?"

He saw a smile threaten Emrys as he answered, "Emrys." A few unidentifiable words followed and the ropes binding Arthur fell to the floor.

Arthur said nothing for a minute as they exited the cave, but once they were a few yards from it Arthur asked another question, "Why did you save me?"

Emrys glanced at him and answered, "It is my destiny to do so." Emrys paused before continuing, "And I wanted to."

"Why?" Arthur pressed and Emrys stopped and raised and eyebrow at the question. It was only then that Arthur realized he sounded a bit ridiculous. "Not that you shouldn't have, but why would you want to? My father…"

Emrys cut him off at that point, "Yes your father, not you. You are a different person and deserve a chance to rule before being condemned. You are not your father Arthur and you will be an amazing king, but you have to survive that long first."

Arthur was shocked, did this man, this sorcerer, have so much confidence in him? So much so that he was willing to save him? "You went out of your way to save me." Arthur pointed out as they began to walk again.

"That's not a question." Emrys responded easily to Arthur's words.

"Why would you do that?"

Emrys sighed at Arthur's question but answered him honestly, "I would die for you so going a little out of my way is no big deal."

Arthur stopped talking then and Emrys figured this was going good because Arthur hadn't threatened him or tried to arrest him. Arthur then interrupted the silence with another question. "Where are we going?"

"My horse. Your knights have already left to send word to the King." Emrys answered.

After another small pause Arthur had another question, "Did you know about Morgana and Morgause? Did you hear their message?"

"Yes." Emrys growled out in irritation. "But I don't believe the message came purely from them."

Arthur looked surprised and what he said and the anger in which he said it but didn't say anything. In fact, though he would never admit it, Emrys kind of scared him.

Soon they arrived at the horse and Arthur asked another question, "Do you really live inside Camelot?"

Emrys hesitated for a moment before answering honestly again, "Yes."

Arthur was surprised but he did not find Emrys as a threat at the moment. Everything he said seemed to be honest and they took off in the direction of Camelot.

They rode in silence until Emrys looked to Arthur as he stopped the horse and got off. Then he had Arthur get off as well. Arthur looked at him curiously and asked, "Why did we stop Emrys?"

"Because you cannot just ride into Camelot unharmed or safe else your father would be very curious about what happened. And I cannot arrive with you in tow either."

"So what are you going to do then?" Arthur asked a bit worried as to what he was planning, though everything he had said was correct.

"Make it believable." Emrys said as he pulled a book from the pouch of the horse and skimmed through it his eyes gold.

"In Camelot you don't use the name Emrys." Arthur said, it wasn't a question, he had checked very carefully for that name, though after seeing how young he was it wasn't necessary to go back ten years.

Emrys chuckled because he knew that Arthur had checked, he had helped Arthur look for himself. "I don't see the question Price Arthur."

At that moment the pages stopped moving the page that Emrys would need so he looked up from the book and to Arthur. They both knew what the question would be, but still he forced Arthur to ask, "What name do you use inside of Camelot? Do you have a fake name?"

"I have no fake name, only the name my mother gave me and my magical name. I use the name my mother gave me while inside Camelot."

"So what is it?" Arthur asked impatiently.

"I can't tell you yet, you're not ready."

"Do I know you?"

There was a smirk, "Yes." Emrys looked back to his pages then back to Arthur, "Sorry."

Arthur looked at Emrys in confusion as he started reading some foreign words, and then everything went black for Arthur and Emrys watched as Arthur fell to the ground where he had been standing.

Emrys smirked before casting a protection spell and a spell that would make sure nobody would know Arthur was there before abandoning his cloak and heading into Camelot which wasn't too far.

Once inside Camelot he found Gwaine inside the tavern and pulled him out the door. He realized he was lucky that Uther still didn't trust Lancelot and Gwaine enough to send them out to search.

"Are you patrolling tonight?"

"Merlin?" Gwaine asked and Merlin nodded, "Yep, why do you wanna know?"

"You and Lancelot need to meet me by where the Griffin was slain. He'll know where that is." Merlin answered.

Gwaine noticed how serious Merlin was being so he nodded and quickly and went to find Lancelot. Merlin appreciated that he realized this was important and he went to go to where he had left Arthur.

A few hours after the sun set Merlin stood waiting for them and when they were in sight he began to walk them to where Arthur was and stopped once he had reached his destination and he removed the spell protecting him.

The knights were barely starting to arrive none-the-wiser that they had been led here or that Merlin was near them.

"Thanks." Merlin said quietly to Lancelot in the shadows of the trees so they couldn't be seen as Gwaine picked up Arthur and raised him up on to his horse.

Behind Gwaine was Sir Leon who was shocked to find Arthur unconscious. He and the other knights figured it to be luck that they had gone a little past their normal route. It was no coincidence though. Merlin had sent a message to Lancelot and Gwaine who knew his secret.

They knights then took off with Arthur and Merlin hung back taking his time, walking instead of riding his horse back.

Silently he was worried and hoping that Arthur would not tell his father what really happened or else they would be in the midst of another witch-hunt, except this time he would be the target.

Lancelot found his way back to the knights who hadn't even realized that he had vanished for a few minutes, well all except for Gwaine who knew why.


	5. Chapter 5

Merlin arrived in Camelot after the knights and Arthur by a few hours. He entered with the spell on the horse removed and the cloak hidden in is bag. He was also carrying some plants just so no one would ask questions.

He put the horse back with the rest of the horses and then went to his chambers where he knew he would find a bed where he could sleep. Though when he opened the door Gaius stood with his arms crossed waiting. "Tell me what happened Merlin."

Merlin stood and took a breath before lying. "Nothing."

Gaius looked at him with a look that clearly told Merlin he didn't believe him before asking, "Are you sure?"

Merlin nodded. "It was nothing really important." And then he took his leave, heading to his chambers where he could finally go to sleep.

In the morning Merlin went to Arthur's chambers to prepare him for his meeting with the King about what had happened. "Rise and shine!" he said as he pulled the curtains open.

Arthur raised his head, and then dropped it again. Merlin was late, and though it wasn't by much because of the meeting with the King, he was still late.

After a few minutes Arthur was up and dressed, and walking to meet the King in the throne chambers.

The doors were pulled open and Uther sat upon his throne, as only a King could, looking down on anyone who should enter. He was looking better than he had been before Arthur had left and Gaius predicted that in a few days he would be completely normal again, though Merlin was not sure if that was a good thing or not but for now Merlin liked to think it was good.

"Ahh, Arthur, my son, it is so good to have you back. I'm pleased to hear that you're alright but it would be much appreciated if you could tell me what had happened."

As he spoke Uther climbed from his throne to the ground beside Arthur and hit his shoulder in, what could be considered, a loving gesture.

"Father, I too am glad that I'm alright. While the other knights were out getting supplies Sir Owen and I stayed behind at camp. We were ambushed soon after then left by at least thirty men, we stood no chance. They knew who I was, I heard them talking on the trip, and that I would be there. It was there plan all along."

Uther nodded, "Yes that explains why Sir Owen lived."

Now Merlin held his breath waiting for Arthur to finish the story. He was probably more curious that Uther because he wondered what story Arthur would say, the truth or a lie. That had been why Merlin hadn't told Gaius anything.

Arthur continued, "On the way over to where ever they were supposed to take me they got themselves extremely drunk. It was enough for me to sneak out and though they came after me they were barely sober enough to walk straight. I remember winning and trying to get back to Camelot before everything goes black."

Merlin released his breath quietly not showing his relief and Uther said. "That's my son, staying aware. You are dismissed now."

Arthur bowed as well as Merlin and they left back to Arthur's chambers.

When they got back Arthur seemed to look distressed. "Is something wrong sire?" Merlin asked though he was sure he could guess the reason.

Arthur looked at Merlin and then answered, "Yes. Do you remember the sorcerer Morgana and Morgause spoke of?" Merlin nodded surprised that it seemed Arthur would tell him the truth. "He saved me."

"Really?" Merlin asked faking his surprise, "Why?"

Arthur looked at him and answered. "I don't know."

Merlin couldn't help but smiling. He really was surprised but it was because Arthur had chosen to tell him the truth instead of the same lie he told his father, which he was grateful for.

"How could you not know?" Merlin asked stepping into his normal role of idiot servant.

Arthur frowned at him. "Now you're going to help me."

"With what?"

"I can't be seen searching for him so one of your new duties is to find Emrys, so that I can reward him." Arthur answered as though it was obvious.

"But he's a sorcerer." Merlin said attempting to convince Arthur not to send him after himself.

Arthur stood up from the chair were he sat. "So, he saved my life and would you have me not reward him just because he's a sorcerer?"

Merlin stepped back in shock. Arthur was standing up for him, Emrys but still someone with magic. "Yes sire." Merlin said bowing.

Arthur nodded and then went back to his normal self. "Now Merlin don't be useless and start doing something. Start with cleaning out my stables and walking my dogs, and don't forget to clean my chambers, sharpen my blade, and polish my armor."

Merlin rolled his eyes and mumbled 'prat' before bowing slightly and saying, "Yes Sire." Though it was said a bit mockingly.

Arthur narrowed his eyes and tossed the thing nearest him at Merlin's head, it so happened to be a cup.

Merlin chuckled as he left to go do his chores and find a way to pretend to be looking for himself. He sighed as he wondered how he was supposed to pull it off but then again it wouldn't really surprise Arthur if he said that he was unable to find anything.

For a second he considered going to Gaius and asking him what he thought but since he didn't know that Arthur had even met 'Emrys' and he didn't want to tell he figured it was best to wait.

And wait he did. For three days he acted as if nothing had happened and anytime Arthur questioned him on what he had found about Emrys Merlin simply said that he hadn't found anything and no one had heard of him.

Things around Camelot were beginning to fall into a routine and that should have been the first clue that something was wrong because never was nothing happening in Camelot. It was because of that Merlin wasn't surprised that the next day some man had come and sought an audience with the King.

Merlin had gone to Arthur's chambers in order to prepare him for the meeting because his father, the King, had insisted that he too come to listen to the man. Arthur didn't seem to care at all but it wasn't his choice.

So in the end the King sat on the throne and Arthur stood to the side of him and Merlin against the wall with knights scattered across the room as the man entered.

The man was escorted into the large chambers where Uther and Arthur were, waiting for him to speak. "My lord." the man said as he bowed. "Prince Arthur." he bowed again.

Merlin was standing in the corner of the room and he rolled his eyes. This is how every meeting began, they would sit around for a minute and listen to how much this guy respected what Uther was doing and how he was a great King. He would also put down magic and talk about how evil it was to make sure he was heard.

Uther nodded to him, "What is it you came here for?" he asked in a way that betrayed how little he cared for this man and whatever it was he wanted, and he did want something otherwise he wouldn't have come.

The man bowed again and said with a much sincerity as he could muster, "Those with magic," he spat the word as if the word itself was corrupt as much as Uther claims the sorcerers to be, "Are evil and my family and I are so greatful for what you have done to those with that disease."

Now Uther sat up straighter and leaned forward, far more attentive than before. "Yes, yes. Continue please."

Arthur knew what the man was doing as he had seen it done so many times but couldn't speak up so he just continued to listen to the mans ramblings until he got to his point. He also felt resentment for this man who was fueling his father's hatred as he had come to believe that maybe all magic wasn't evil.

Merlin knew what the man would do next too. Now he would tell Uther what he would like to have or something he wants Uther to do. It was more likely to happen now that he had successfully kissed up and gotten on to his good side with all of his anti-magic blabbering.

"I have heard that there will be a meeting among the cursed in a small town bordering Mercia. A prophet is said to be there who will give a grand prophesy for all to hear."

Uther nodded, but looked considerably more upset. "In Mercia?" he asked to confirm what he heard.

The man bowed, "Yes my lord, in Mercia."

"We cannot attack in Mercia but we can send spies. Arthur you and two knights will be sent undercover to discover what is going on. Listen and relay her prophesy. Kill as many of those beasts as you can if any come our way. Catch names and faces that we can use as well." Uther said turning to Arthur half-way through his speach.

"Yes father." was the brisk responce.

Uther now turned back to the man, "Is there anything else we should be aware of?" the man shook his head so Uther continued, "You will be given a guest chambers to stay in as long as you please. What is your name?"

"Mitch, sire. Thank you for your generosity my lord." the man, Mitch, said bowing to Uther once again.

It was making Merlin sick but Uther was beginning to like the man who would lick his boots clean if comaned to do so.

They entered Arthur's chambers and Merlin waited as Arthur turned to him. "You will not be going. I want you to stay behind and continue to try and find Emrys."

Merlin objected and after a short argument it was clear that Arthur would not relent so Merlin knew he would have to come up with a way to go and protect him. He decided that he would have to go as someone with magic if he wanted to go. He sighed as he realized what he would have to do and how much Gaius would not like it.

Merlin sighed because he knew that, again, he would not tell Gaius everything. He would avoid talking about what he is planning and instead he would say that he would just follow as he was supposed to last time.


	6. Chapter 6

Arthur told Merlin what to pack him and to prepare his sword and armor for the ride over. Besides what he would wear to leave the only clothes Arthur had him pack were middle-class clothes and cloaks. He also figured that it would be the same for whoever the other two knights that Arthur decided to bring.

As Merlin finished packing the bag and went to retrive Arthur's armor and sword Arthur stopped him and said, "Can you do me a favor and send word for Elyan and Gwaine to come by here?"

Merlin raised an eyebrow surprised that he had phrased it as a question, "Sure."

With that he left the room to finish what he had to before Arthur would leave and he would follow him.

He knew it would only take a minute to gather Arthur's things so first he went to find Elyan, who was at Gwen's house, and then to Gwaine, who was at a tavern. Neither knew what was happening and Merlin didn't think to tell them. So lastly Merlin took Arthur's things and prepared them for him.

He finished fairly fast though he was using magic, but in his defence he had to prepare his own stuff as well, for example his cloak—probably multipule just in case—and the staff from so long ago, plus the magic book again as a precaution.

After his stuff was prepared he went back to Arthur's chambers with his stuff and told him that Elyan and Gwaine had been informed. As Merlin finished helping Arthur he said, "Now Merlin don't forget to see if you can find Emrys."

Merlin paused for a moment. "What are you going to do when you find him?"

"Reward him."

"But," Merlin didn't know how to put it so he just stated it bluntly, "But he's a sorcerer and your father wouldn't approve."

Arthur turned to Merlin now and said, "And what would you have me do? Turn him over to my father to be burned for helping me. He saved my life Merin."

"No but I thought that you said that a socrerer could never be an ally of Camelot and that all sorcerers were evil."

"I can change my mind can't I Merlin?" Arthur asked sarcastically.

"Well, yes, but still why do you want to…"

Now Merlin was cut off and Arthur looked angry but he still seemed to be ignoring the last part of Merlin's comment.. "Good now that's cleared up hurry and finish already."

With that said Merlin helped Arthur finish dressing and they finished just as there was a nock on Arthur's door. "Come in." he called.

Elyan and Gwaine walked in then and shot smiles at Merlin before bowing to Arthur and saying, "What is it sire?" and then they waited for Arthur to speak.

"I am going to be a spy in Mercia where a group of sorcerers are gathering and I would like you two to come with me."

"Great. You got it." Gwaine said with a smile.

Elayn looked pleased too but he felt that he must ask, "Why us?"

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "You both a amazing fighters, I trust you, and of all my knights you guys look less like the part and we are going undercover."

"Yes sire. I am honored to have been chosen." Elayn said showing the proper amount of respect but as expected Gwaine did not do the same.

"Gotcha, when do we leave?"

Arthur sighed, getting used to his lack of respect was easier that he would have thought it would be but maybe it was because he had so much practice with Merlin.

"We will be heading out right after the sun sets and everyone will be informed that we will be hunting. Pack normal clothes and nothing a knight would wear, and some cloaks. Wear your armor to leave but we will be dropping in off in an abandon shack a little ways in to the forest at the edge of the lower town."

It was agreed to and they left to try and finish what would have to be done and it didn't take them as long as they thought, definately not as long as it would for real hunting trips as they were only premitted to bring concealable weapons as most sorcerers don't need them.

So as agreed right after the sun set Arthur was met by Elayn and Gwaine at the stables with their bags. Merlin waved them off and as soon as they were out of sight he rushed off to do the same thing he did last time and he was thankful he knew where the shack was they had been talking about. And that they talked in front of him so he didn't have to spy.

Merlin caught up to them at the place by the lake that he believed he would and followed slowly from the shadows.

All night they rode and to Merlin's relief nothing really horrible happened, well on the first day anyway.

On the second day of traveling the same cannot be said because they were being followed and soon they were being attacked.

"Dodge! Get away!" Arthur called as an arrow hit the tree next to him.

He was starting to thing that maybe it was a mistake not to bring more weapons but it was a little to late to change his mind now and he knew that.

Elayn and Gawaine hollered back their approval before taking off on their horses. One of the bigger men was now approaching Arthur on his horse swing his sword around. Arthur barely had time to pray for something to happen that would tip the balance in his favor when the branch above the man fell and landed on him. The horse Arthur was riding had become frighted by the display and reared back throwing Arthur off and then taking off into the forest.

Arthur was now alone and though the others in the group that had tried to steal from him were still wondering around searching for their prey he was pretty much safe. Merlin on the other hand was more worried because as Arthur started to walk around he was wondering closer to a camp. Merlin could sense the magic coming from there and could almost garuntee that they were druids and though they are usually peaceful finding the prince of Camelot wondering right to them might be too much for some of them to bare.

His decision made Merlin sight and climbed off his horse and sent it to follow Arthur's and lead it to Elayn and Gwaine. He was now thankful he had the apperance changing spell on the horse. He scribbled down a note to Gwaine just in case that said, 'Watch the horses. We'll find you.'

Now Merlin tied it to his horses ear and made sure that he made it wouldn't fall off and he sent off his horse praying that Gwaine would recognize his hand-writing.

Merlin pulled on the cloak that he had kept with him and approached Arthur who was alert and did not disappoint by turning around quickly and shouting, "Whose there!"

"Emrys." Is how he answered and to his relealf Arthur seemed to relax a bit .

"What are you here for?"

There was a chuckle as Emrys stepped out from the trees and next to Arthur. "I believe you lost your friends and I can show you to them."

Arthur didn't aruge and instead nodded and followed Emrys knowing very little about him but enough to know that even if he did ask he probably wouldn't get straight answers from him. "Got it."

"And put on your cloak the last thing we need is people reconizing you. You're already lucky that they didn't back there."

Arthur nodded and pulled out a cloak from his bag and put it on.

Arthur looked at Emrys as they traveled through the forest. He was lucky to have found him. Still Arthur couldn't believe that he had managed to loose his knights in the middle of a fight, not that he could call that a fight. The cloak he was wearing was beginning to irritate him but Emrys had said he must wear it in case they were seen and that had actually made sense to Arthur. Infact he wished he had thought of it himself.

It was silent until a women came stumbling out of the bushes. When she caught sight of them her eyes widened. "Help us Emrys!"


	7. Chapter 7

It was silent until a women came stumbling out of the bushes. When she caught sight of them her eyes widened. "Help us Emrys!"

Arthur looked to Emrys to see if he had went to move at all and he had. He had taken a step forward. "What do you want?" Arthur asked.

"We are being attacked. A member of our council betrayed us. He wants a war and people are being forced to follow him. He believes that Morgana and Morgause are right in what they are doing." She grabbed on to Emrys and cried out. "It's Amar. Emrys save us."

Arthur waited for his answer and he wan't dissappointed ans Emrys calmly asked, "What is happeneing at the camp right now?"

"Arguing, fighting, war." She cried as the tears coming from her eyes fell from her face and began to leave wet spots on her dress.

Emrys placed a hand on her shoulder and kept walking. When they reached the border Arthur saw how right she was. Everything seemed to stop as they walked in to the camp though. Weapons clatter to the ground, though there were few, and spells stopped as they passed. One man stepped to where Emrys and Arthur as they passed and said, "My Lord." As he slightly bowed.

At first Arthur thought they were talking to him but as he opened his mouth to speak Emrys answered, "There is no need for that. Why do you fight your brothers?"

It was hard for Merlin to hold this role as he stop next to Arthur dealing with something he shouldn't and it was then that Arthur truly began to realize how important Emrys was, is to those with magic. It also began to sink in that he was in a druid camp where he was more than certainly hated. He pulled his hood down over his face a bit more.

"They wish to attack Camelot!" one shouted.

Another answered right back, "They have forgiven the enemy!"

The voices died down when Merlin raised his had and a women asked him, "What do you believe Emrys?"

"Violence is not the answer to your problem." Was Emrys's reply.

They began to argue again but they were both fighting Emrys. Both believed that they should fight to prove that they are right. The elders of the tribe stood back though as they agreed with Emrys. Violence was never the right choice as they were trying to be a peaceful people.

The auguring continued and soon spells were again being tossed around and in his Emrys was fighting to be heard so hhe did the one thing he knew would get there attention. Emrys caused it to rain and lighting to strike near them. It drained him more than he thought it would to cause such a change outside of the Isle of the Blessed, but now he knew that they wouldn't try to bring him into the fight.

"Do not fight amongst yourself and wait for peace will come."

As they left the camp Arthur heard whispers of "What power."; "Unbelievable."; "But he's so young."

Arthur was so dazed by the experince at first that Emrys had to drag him a good half mile before he started following without assistance again. "Why didn't you tell them who you would side with?"

It took Emrys a minute before he realized what Arthur was talking about. "If I said who I would side with the other half of the people would be no longer willing to listen to me."

Arthur nodded. "How do you know where we're going."

"I can sense my horse."

Arthur nodded again and it wasn't that he could sense the horse though but he could sense the mixture of the spell he put on the horse and the staff.

Arthur went to ask another question but was cut off by Emrys. "Your knights are just through those bushes."

Arthur closed his mouth but he thought that Emrys might have done that on purpose but he didn't know and didn't have time to ask now. Arthur knew why he told him though and so he pulled off the cloak so that they would recognize him and walked through the bushes and Emrys followed him this time.

It was Elayn who first noticed them and called out, "Sire we were so worried when you didn't follow us. Then your horse showed up with one we'd never seen before."

Arthur was so busy explaining to Elayn what happened that he didn't notice the look Gwaine shot Emrys as he touched his pocket. Emrys smirked. He was glad he sent the note to Gwaine and apparently he did realize who it was from and who he was.

It was only then that Arthur turned to Emrys. "Am I correct in assuming that you are going to the same place that we are?"

Emrys nodded to him. There was no need to mention that the only reason he was going at all was because Arthur was. Arthur nodded and he had no idea if Arthur had guessed at what he hadn't agreed to but it really didn't matter.

Elayn seemed surprised that Arthur was disclosing so much of their 'secret' mission to someone who was a confirmed sorcerer, but he didn't say anything.

"Then why don't you travel with us?"

Gwaine smirked at this and jumped in, "Yeah Emrys why don't you." And as he said this he purposely drew out the name 'Emrys'.

After a quick and irritated glance at Gwaine he decided that it wouldn't be too bad in fact traveling with Arthur would make his job that much easier. It would almost be like being Merlin except he wouldn't have to hide when he did magic and he wouldn't be forced to do grunt work. "Sure." Was his short reply.

He had to concentrate on keeping his voice lower and his answers quick since he would be spending a bit of time with Arthur. The last thing he needed would be Arthur realizing who he was due to a stupid mistake.

Arthur smirked because he too had an ulterier motive. He wanted to learn more about who Emrys was and how he knows him. Is he someone he has passed in the lower town or was he someone inside the castle who Arthur has known for a while? Someone who he thought was an enemy or someone who he already knew was a friend?

Elayn was the most shocked and the most uncomfortable with this new arrangement but he did not voice his opinions for a few reasons. One was obviously this person, whoever he was, saved Arthur several times it seemed. Two was that Arthur trusts him, which means a lot. Three was probably one that would apply to very few people but it was because Gwaine didn't argue or disagree. It may seem stupid but Gwaine usually has a good sense of people and he's never afraid of saying something. So after a bit of thinking Elayn decided that he would trust Emrys but he would also watch him and see what he had done to earn the friendship of those two.

Emrys got back on his horse and the others followed in suit. It was a silent agreement that they would keep riding.

As the darkness started to set in they all came to a stop. Emrys was sore from riding because even though he was Emrys, all powerful sorcerer, he was also Merlin, lazy, uncoordinated, manservant.

The others showed no discomfort as they dismounted and began to prepare camp. Emrys tried to hide the discomfort he was feeling and he thought he did quite well considering no one seemed to notice.

The others pitched their tents but Emrys didn't. Instead he leaned against a large tree. He had thought that packing a tent would take up too much time, space, and would cause people to ask questions if he got one.

They would arrive tomorrow and then he could separate from Arthur, Elayn, and Gwaine. He only felt like doing so because while he was here with them he had to watch himself in hopes of not giving away who he was. He also couldn't seem to sleep. Sleep was the farthest thing from his mind at the moment.

Arthur waited until Gwaine and Elayn had eaten and gone to bed before he approached Emrys with some food. He handed it to Emrys, and Emrys nodded to him in thanks. He started to eat and Arthur sat down next to him. Once Emrys finished eating he turned to Arthur and gave him a smirk as he asked, "Okay so I'm done eating what is it that you would like?"

"Are you going to listen to the prophesy?"

"Not really. I could care less to be honest. I have a far more reliable source when it comes to predicting the future."

Arthur raised an eyebrow, "Who? Does he live in Camelot also?"

There was a chuckle and then, "No one you need to concern yourself with, and no he no longer lives in Camelot."

"Why."

Emrys shook his head, "That is enough questions for the night."

Arthur didn't look like he was ready to leave yet but he conceded with a nod and then stood up and left Emrys alone in the darkness.


	8. Chapter 8

Though in the beginning he had not been planning on going to sleep he didn't have much choice as he eyes drooped shut and the stars faded into the blackness as sleep consumed him.

The light slowly started to trickel through his eyelids as he began to blink. "Hey," Gwaine said standing next to him but he couldn't seem to spot the other two. "They're still asleep but before they get up you should really pull you hood back on."

Merlin quickly leaned forward and pulled his hood back on. It seemed to have slipped off while he was sleeping. "Thanks Gwaine."

"No problem Merlin but you really should be lucky that I was the first one up. You should also know how rare that is considering the princess is here."

Merlin chuckled. You could always count on Gwaine to take nothing seriously. "Speaking of which why are you up so early?"

"Well isn't that obvious?" Gwaine asked with a shrug, "I wanted to talk to you without having to be careful."

Merlin smiled because Gwaine couldn't be careful even if he wanted to, it wasn't in his nature. "So what do you want to talk about?"

"You sent that note right?" Merlin nodded, "So what were you following us the whole time and we didn't notice?"

"Basically." Merlin answered, "But don't feel too bad I did use magic to avoid being dectected by anyone including you guys. On top of that I was also invisible."

"Where did you get the horse. I don't recognize it."

"Of course you don't there's an apperance spell on it to make it look different. I can't have them reconizing the horse it would cause them to ask too many questions."

Gwaine nodded but couldn't ask anything else because he heard the others start to wake. They nodded to each other and then Gwaine walked away from Merlin to the other side of the campsite.

Soon they were all outside and the campsite was coming down. "Would you like some help?" Emrys asked as they tried to remove all traces of them camping there.

"Yeah, can you?" Arthur asked curiously.

Emrys smirked before saying, "dílegian." (erase)

In a moment it was as if they had never been there at all. Elayn stood in shock, the most obvious shock anyway. Arthur was caught off guard slightly but he convinced himself it was because he only saw Emrys do magic a few times. Gwaine was probably the only one who was truly indifferent and it was because it really didn't matter to him.

Emrys's display of magic had saved them almost an hour of work so it was no surprise that they arrived at Mercia earlier than anyone had anticipated.

The people in the town they arrived at were strange looking and yet seemingly comfortable with each other. Arthur slipped his hood on so he looked similar to Emrys but Elayn and Gwaine didn't pull up their hoods after being instructed not to by Emrys. It was as Arthur said they did not look like knights should so they had nothing to fear. Arthur could make up a reason and Emrys wouldn't need a reason but if four people came into town together with all their faces covered it would be suspicious.

As it was they didn't enter unnoticed. A large man approached them and stuck out his hand. "I can put your horses in the stables if you want."

Arthur was about to refuse him when Emrys got off and motioned for them to do the same. He took his bag off the horse with his magic book in it and everything else he packed and then took the staff off and held it as you would a walking stick. Once the others had taken there stuff off as well Emrys turned to the horses and said, "ámundian." (protect) casting the same protection on all of them.

Then he turned to the man again and said politely, "Sure if you'd be so kind."

The man seemed a bit surprised but a little impressed as he nodded and took hold of the horses and moved them to the stables. Now he turned to his three companions and said, "It would be nice if you could avoid calling me Emrys."

"Why?" Arthur asked.

"I really don't feel like the attention."

"Then what do you want us to call you?" Gwaine asked with a smirk.

Emrys shrugged. "It doesn't really matter." But the seriousness of his tone made it clear to Gwaine that the name he was thinking of was not an option.

Arthur and Elayn had no idea what to make of the request either but decided that they would do there best not to say his name.

It only took a moment to find a vacancy. There were three rooms bought between the three of them. One was Arthur's, one was Emrys's, and one was Gwaine and Elayns. Emrys, Merlin, was definitely glad that he had brought a good amount of money. After leaving there stuff in the room, Emrys left nothing but his clothes, they met outside but before they could decide what to do they were interrupted.

A young woman of about 19 was now running down the gravel streets shouting, "She will speak now! Meet in the middle of the town! She is going to speak!"

Emrys followed Arthur, Elayn and Gwaine as they headed to the center of the town. There was a platform there and on the platform an old woman with gray hair sat on a chair. Her eyes were a dull blue and her body was covered in wrinkles. When she stood her bones seemed to crack. It was as if she was turning to dust before their eyes.

Her voice was the same way, fading in and out as she spoke. "Thank you for coming, thank you my kin for coming." Everyone was silent now, trying to catch her words, "I have called for you all to come here to hear my last prophesy, and my last one shall be my greatest."

No one moved and some even stopped breathing, even Emrys was getting curious to what her last prophesy would be. It was now her words became clearer, her voice gaining strength to which was probably lost to her years ago. Her eyes were golden as she spoke in the old tongue.

" _Quondam rege et futurum nondum,_

_regnum et esse regnum tradiderunt,_

_usque non potest evigilet Emrys,_

_de_ _magicis_ _inscientia_ _demergit,_ _  
_ _study_ _non indigent,_ _  
_ _Namque_ _sic_ _sanguis_ _caveat,_

_Duas vias_ _ut_ _sunt_ _resque,_ _  
_ _cum_ _novissima_ _erit_ _eadem,_ _  
_ _quam vel_ _amor_ _sequitur,_ _  
_ _aut certe_ _ira_ _et_ _apprehende_ _firmi stare,_ _  
_ _nihil in hoc,_ _  
_ _ratio_ _quondam_ _regis futuri_ _et_ _frangitur,_

_Nunc_ _admonendi_ _quoquo modo_ _fiet,_ _  
_ _omnes Albion sub_ _uno_ _adunabo,_ _  
_ _Et magicas_ _manebit_ _tamen expectas_ _qui."_

No one spoke. Everyone was letting her word sink in and she sunk back into her chair and it seemed she could not keep her eyes open.

Now there was a murmur wafting through the crowd. It was said she could only predict the soon-to-be so the time was fast approaching. The people were getting more excited and restless; some cheering could even be heard.

Gwaine turned to Emrys and asked, "What's wrong with her?"

His eyes flickered to Gwaine as if just remembering he was there, "That prophesy took a lot of magic out of her and a loss of that much magic from her withering amount is more than she was able to substain."

Gwaine nodded and Elayn and Arthur did the same as they had been listening to him speak. Emrys could tell they were curious about what had been said but didn't voice it because of fear of being found out. He congratulated them on their forethought silently because not knowing the language of magic would defiantly prove that they are not magic.

Everyone was now sperating. Some seemed to be leaving the town and others seemed to just be going back to the hotels or taverns. Emrys chose to go back to his room and he notice he was being followed by the three knights.

With a sigh he let them into his room as he too walked in. Once the door was shut the questions started.

First it was Arthur, "What do you think about what was said?"

A smirk and then, "It comes as no surprise to me. As I said I have my own way of hearing these kinds of prophesies and I have heard this one several times. Though not exactly as this."

"What was said?" Elayn asked.

But Emrys couldn't answer because Gwaine cut in, "I thought I heard your name."

"Yeah, you did."

"What was said?" Elayn asked again.

"Roughly it translates as:

' _The once and future king awaits,_

_For the crown and the kingdom to be passed down,_

_But wait he must until Emrys awakes_ _,_

_from his ignorance and magic drowns,_

_study he does not need,_

_for it is in his blood so you must take heed,_

_Two paths are there that he can take,_

_though the end result will be the same,_

_he can either love and follow,_

_or let anger take hold and stand strong,_

_though in the latter,_

_the idea of the once and future king is shattered,_

_now be warned that one way or another it will happen,_

_all Albion will unite under one,_

_and magic will be restored to those who still await.'_

So that is what was said."

They stayed quiet as they listened and then absorbed the information that they had just been given. For the first time they understood why it had been so quiet after the words were spoken.

"What does that mean?" Arthur finally asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Emrys asked though there was no humor in his voice this time. "I can either destroy you and rule or help you and stand back."

It was the first time he had heard it so bluntly. Kilgharrah had made it seem like there was only one choice, to help Arthur. Only now was he realizing that he could also destroy everything if his magic got out of hand, because that's the only way the second future could happen.

"Are you saying that the princess here is the Once and Future King?" Gwaine asked curiously looking between Emrys and Arthur.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Now I think you guys should look around then go to bed."

They all agreed and left Emrys in his room. It was only now that Merlin let the façade fall. He was supposed to be so powerful and yet he couldn't imagine it. He didn't want that much power. What if he lost control of his magic when he finally got full control of it. He wasn't so nieve as to think that what he had right now was his full power, and yet already he was having problems supressing his magic in his every day life. He was so clumys as he attempted to focus on keeping his magic inside and doing his daily activities. What would happen if he got more? Would he be able to control it?

Finally he began to shake off those thoughts for the sake of his sanity. It would do no good to obess about it now but he would have to talk about this with Kilgaharrah. He began to pack his stuff and early tomorrow, before the others got up he would leave and follow them as he had been until Arthur had been seperated from them. For now he pulled himself into bed and decided to sleep not caring how early it might be.

What he really hadn't thought of was the fact that he woke so much earlier in the morring than he had originally planned to because of how early he had gone to bed. It ended up not really mattering to him as he dressed and left the room before the darkness had time to be consumed my the light of the morrning sun.

He chose to wait outside the town and pulled a bowl from his bag. He had been practicing how to scry with it. He still wasn't great and could only hold an image for a limited number of times but Gaius had assured him he was very much advanced for someone who had only had a limited number of days to practice.

Merlin poured some water into the bowl and incanted. Soon, and much to his relief, an image of Arthur appeared in the water. With the sun peaking through his window he was waking up along with his knights. A while later they were all awake and gathered in the hall and when Emrys did not come out they chose to knock, and when Emrys didn't answer, even after they called for him, they decided to go in. Though Gwaine didn't find it to be such a good idea even he was shocked to find the chambers that they knew Emrys to be occupying empty.

At first it seemed that they were planning on looking for him but it was decided against as they figured that Emrys would be able to handle himself and would probably have an easier time doing so without them. Both Gwaine and Arthur knew that it was because he didn't want them to see where he went or have him followed.


	9. Chapter 9

They were leaving and Merlin was adjusting his position in order to make sure that they would not come across him and then followed behind them after recasting the spells that had made him undetectable on the previous occasions.

Arthur wished that Emrys had not left quite so soon as he still had many questions about the prophesy and what it meant. He didn't believe that Emrys would destroy him, but he also couldn't completely believe that his success depended so much on the support of one man, and one who his father would have killed. Did that lady really know what she was even talking about? Then again if he was trusting Emrys how was she so much different? That was a trick question; she wasn't.

Gwaine just wished that Merlin had told at least him that he was going to leave before he did so. It kind of made him feel a bit left out but then again talking to him in privet would seem suspious since that had 'just met'.

Elayn felt like he was missing something important and though he felt he had no reason to trust the man Emrys he did. To his surprise though it wasn't just because the others trusted him but it almost seemed as if he knew him no matter how strange that sounded, because it sounded strange even to himself.

With all these thoughts running through each of their heads none of them talked much and Merlin, who hung back watching this, felt bad. He had always tried to prevent doing just this, putting Arthur in a postion to choose between him, even though he didn't know it was him, and his father. Still it was too late now to change anything so instead of thinking on it too much he enjoyed the quiet ride back.

Ha, Merlin almost laughed. It was ridiculus to believe that there would ever be a peaceful anything. It took about a day and a half but still something happened that shattered Merlin's hope that the ride home would be uneventful.

A women stepped though the shadows. She had long hair that was light brown and light green eyes. "Arthur Pendragon." Were her first words to them as she smiled. She was wearing a purple cloak and a lighter purple dress under it. "Ingeþanc ægift. Andgiet æwda."

She had an arm held out to him and was smiling so brightly. Arthur leaned back as some invisible force hit him. "What did you do?" he asked.

She continued to smile. "It translates to 'Thinking gift. Understanding thought.' For a week when someone speaks to you Arthur you will know if they are lieing and their true thoughts. I do this because within the week you might find this useful."

Arthur opened his mouth and she was gone. It was only a little ways to Camelot now so he hurried to get back, though he knew before he got there he would have to decide what to tell his dad.

Merlin didn't continue to follow them though. Already he was making plans on how to avoid Arthur for the week. He wondered if Gaius would be willing to help him. Merlin wondered who this girl was but he really had no guesses and no way to figure out any clues. He wanted to call out to Kilagarah to ask him but calling a dragon so close to Camelot at the moment did not sound like a really good idea. He would have to settle for whatever Gaius knew and would tell him. If worse came to worse he knew he would have to know.

Merlin raced into Camelot. He had to see Gaius as soon as he could manage it. If the sorceress had been telling the truth Gaius had tell everyone he was sick. Merlin opened the door and slammed it causeing Gaius to jump, startled. "Gods Merlin you don't have to be so loud." Gaius repremanded.

Merlin nodded and without wasting a breath took off and told him all about the sorceress. When he was finished Gaius said, "Though I don't know if she's telling the truth it would be foolish of us to ignore it. Don't lie to Arthur if you can avoid it just leaving would be better. It's because with a spell like that the thoughts can only be revealed if you speak and a majority of the time only if you lie."

"Um wouldn't it just be so much easier if you were to just tell everyone I was sick for the week?" Merlin asked as he sat down at the table.

Gaius looked at him strangely. "You believe that it will be easier for me to lie to Arthur for a week about you being sick. He'd wonder why and if he would know what I was thinking he would know it was because we are trying to protect a secret or maybe he would know about your magic from that."

"Oh." Merlin said and then scrached his head, "I hadn't thought of that actually."

"Of course you didn't Merlin. Sometimes I wonder if you ever think at all or if you just do the first thing that pops into your mind. Really I don't understand how you've mangaed to keep a secret so big for so long."

Merlin made a face. "So you want me to keep the same act going but not to lie to Arthur, at all, for an entire week?"

Gaius nodded and Merlin groaned.

"It won't be that bad, but anyway you should be going. You don't wan't to keep Arthur waiting or he might start asking questions."

Merlin nodded and left, though he had no idea what he was going to do if Arthur asked him a question.

He didn't have much time to think about it, or at least if felt that way to him, because it felt like in a matter of minutes he had Arthur's lunch ready and was heading up to his room.

Merlin opened the door and found the prince laying on his bed looking up at the ceiling. "Arthur I got your lunch." He said as happily as he could mangaed as he set everything up. Then he turned to leave, "See you when you're done."

Merlin tried to escape but before he could get out the door Arthur asked, "Are you planning on going somewhere Merlin?"

Merlin bit his lip thinking over his words carefully before answering, "No, just back to Gaius's."

It wasn't a lie. He didn't say why he was going there. Arthur looked at him strangely but didn't say anything.

Arthur felt a tug at his mind. He knew Merlin was holding back but he also knew that he wasn't lieing. It felt strange to be so sure of something without any proof. It was also making him curious. Why would that women do this to him? There must be some reason that she would do this. It made him think that something would happen within the week that would make this 'gift' of his useful.

Arthur realized that he hadn't yet responded so he answered with his best attempt at a normal answer, "Well as much as I would love to send you off to Gaius's to do nothing, which you do anyway, there are things that you could do. For example you can sharpen my sword and polish my armor."

Merlin rolled his eyes falling back into the normal patteren, "Sure Sire." He said slightly sarcastic.

 


	10. Chapter 10

It wasn't until the next day that things became more difficult but then again Merlin realized that he should have expected that from the beginning. It was because the next day King Mure arrived with his son Prince Kelton in tow.

Uthur had dragged Arthur, and by default Merlin, to the front of the castle to meet the ally of sixteen years.

"King Uther! How have you been doing these last years?" Mure said excitedly. "Aren't you glad to be here as well Kelton?"

Kelton rooled his eyes, "Exstatic. Would you like to show me the training grounds Prince Arthur?"

Merlin noted a pained look on Arthur's face and a hand went up to the side of his head. Uther frowned and turned to look at Arthur when he didn't answer. "He would be pleased to show you around Prince Kelton." Uther answered for Arthur and then went back to ignoring his son again.

Arthur nodded before turning and leading the way to the training area where most the knights were already practicing. The exception was Gwaine, who was probably drinking, and a few others who Gaius had said were ill.

When Arthur was in sight the knights imediately stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the two princes.

"Prince Kelton these are my knights. This is Prince Kelton of our allied kingdom of Surdia." Arthur said, his features still marred by a frown and scrunched eyebrows.

No one else seemed to notice, or if they did they ignored it. It wasn't like they could question their prince anyway, espesally not in front of another royal.

It was Sir Leon who stepped forward first and bowed. "Welcome then Prince Kelton. Prince Arthur," he said now turning to his future king asked, "Will you guys be joining us?"

Arthur was about to confirm when Kelton cut in with a snotty adittude, "No, we'll just be watching. Right Arthur?"

Arthur nodded and after watching for almost an hour Kelton said, "I'm quite bored would you like to show me to my room?"

Kelton's eyes went from the knights to Arthur, shooting him a distasteful look. "Sure." Arthur answered, nodding.

Aruthur quickly moved to show Kelton the way and Merlin noted Arthur was being more serious than usually and wasn't talking much. Though Merlin realized that something was wrong with Arthur he didn't want to say anything in front of the other prince. Even though he acts more like a friend than a manservent he would never embaress Arthur by acting like that in front of another royal.

The walk to Kelton's room seemed to take forever. Once in a while Kelton would talk, critisizeing some part of the castle or someone in the staff.

He was annoying Merlin but he wasn't Merlin's main focus at the moment. Arthur was, and right now he seemed to have a desperate urge to get rid of Kelton.

For a moment he wondered if it had something to do with the spell that had been put on him, but he didn't have much time to dwell on that thought as a possibility because they were already at Kelton's room and Arthur was bidding him a farewell.

As soon as Kelton's door closed Arthur was off, heading back to his room as quickly as he could manage it without running full speed.

Once they were inside Arthur's room Merlin turned to Arthur and asked him, "Are you okay Arthur?"

Arthur looked at him as if he were in some kind of pain, "Do you even care?" he snapped back angrily.

Merlin looked at him a bit surprised and really shocked. "Of course I care Arthur, but I've been with you all day and I still don't understand why you're as upset as you are." Merlin answered him.

Arthur just stood there for a moment before sighing and letting his shoulders slump a bit. "Get me my lunch I'm starving. I might tell you after I've eaten."

Merlin nodded before heading to the Kitchen. He got a little extra so that Arthur could splurge a bit more than usual. It was only because he seemed to be having a really bad day.

When Merlin got back to Arthur's room he was laying on his bed with his head under a pillow. "Your food's here." Merlin said and Arthur slowly got up and proceeded to the table where his food had been set down.

Arthur seemed to realize that there was more than usual but after shooting Merlin a curious look he decided not to say anything about it.

Neither person said anything until after Arthur had finished eating. Though Merlin was curious he held his tounge until after Arthur started talking. "I think it has something to do with my trip back to Camelot from Merica."

Merlin belatedly remember he wasn't supposed to know anything about the spell so he asked, "What happened?" because he wanted to know what Arthur thought of it all and if the spell had been real, though it had felt that way.

"This sorceress cast a strange spell on me." Arthur said in a way that sounded a bit confused. "I know when people are lieing to me all of a sudden and for some reason I just know what the truth is instinctivly.

"I thought she was lieing at first but now I don't know. I think she was telling the truth if the effects are anything to go by."

Merlin was watching him curiously now, "Why did you look ill while you were talking to Kelton?"

Arthur gave him a repremanding glance at the lack of formality, but otherwise said nothing. After all he was used to it having had Merlin for a servent for so long. "I think he and his father are working against us and Camelot."

Merlin gave Arthur a surprised look. "Are you going to tell your father?"

Arthur gave him a withering look. "And tell him what exactly? A sorceress cast a spell on me so I know when people are lieing and what it is that they are really thinking, but it's okay she was a nice sorceress with good intentions."

"Oh, right." Merlin answered blushing a bit.

"Yeah, oh right." Arthur mocked. "Damn Merlin sometimes I wonder if you're this stupid on purpose.

"I just forgot about that." Melin complained before going back to the original problem, "So what are we going to do about them then?"

Arthur groaned and then ducked his head into his hands. "I don't know and that's the problem."

"Well, is there a way that would give you proof so that you won't have to tell him about the spell?"

Arthur looked at Merlin curiously. "I don't know? Maybe. I could talk to him a bit more and find out as much as I can so that I will know where to look." Merlin nodded and Arthur continued, "And now, before I forget, I have to ask if you have found anything out about Emrys yet."

"What?" Merlin asked in shock having completely forgotten that he was supposed to be looking for information on Emrys because Arthur had ordered him to.

"Emrys, Merlin." Arthur groaned impatiently, "You were supposed to be looking for him while I was gone. Unless, of course, you had something better to do doing your time off of work."

Merlin didn't know what to say. If everything had been normal he would have spouted out some lie nervously like: 'Nope, haven't found a thing yet.' And Arthur would have looked at him suspisously and not quite believed him but he would have let it go telling him he was incompetent and should keep looking. That wasn't going to happen this time. Arthur would know for sure that he was lieing and might even know why.

He was saved by a knock on Arthur's door.

Arthur seemed to think he planned this because he looked over to Merlin with narrowed eyes but neither was able to say anything before another knock on the door.

"Come in." Arthur called still watching Merlin carefully.

A small boy with ruffled brown hair and wide brown eyes was on the other side of the door. "Um, Prince Arthur, Sire. Uh, your father, um, King Uther, would, uh, like to speak with you." The boy was trembling and stuttering.

It seemed Uther was not in a good mood, as if he ever was, and had called on a random servent, out of the kitchen it seemed, to deliever the message. "Where?" Arthur demanded not showing any symapthy since he was already upset at being intrupted.

"Um, uh, uh, the, uh, the throne, um, room, uh, Sire." The boy answered stuttering worse than before, utterly terrified.

Arthur left then, leaving the terrified servent in his wake. Merlin followed him and said in a low repremanding voice, "That wasn't very nice of you. That boy was already terrified."

Arthur looked at Merlin and sighed, annoyed to see that he was completely serious about this and was not planning on letting it go any time soon. "Fine Merlin." Arthur said as he rolled in eyes.

Merlin know this was as close as he was going to get to an apology coming from Arthur because according to him, princes don't apologize, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to continue. "I mean the poor boy was just doing what he was supposed to do and was already scared. I mean I can almost guarentee Uther himself had called on that boy and gave him the message. Then you had to go and…" Merlin was then cut off rather rudely.

"Go away Merlin. Muck out the stable or something, just go away." Arthur commanded.

Merlin nodded and quickly left. He surried from Arthur, escaping in a hurry. He was proving to be very luckly. That god he knew Arthur well enough to predict his reaction and get himself kicked out of Arthur's presence.

Now he needed to talk to Gaius. First he knew how easy it would be to get caught now and he needed to explain to Gaius what he had learned about the spell, and second he needed to figure out how bad Mure and Kelton would be. Having them as enemies didn't seem like such a good idea to him. Then again what did he know.


End file.
